SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — One gold short of an Olympic medal haul, one win from the LPGA Hall of Fame, Lydia Ko pondered what it would be like to do both at the same time and said when she arrived, “It would be hell of a way to do it.”
The 27-year-old Kiwi has not shared his decision that the Paris Games will be his last Olympics. Saturday’s score in the women’s golf tournament was never clear.
“I knew the next 18 holes were going to be some of the most important 18 holes of my life,” Ko said. “I knew that being in this position was once in a lifetime.”
He ended a dream at Le Golf National with a 1-under 71 for a two-shot victory. The win lowered his career total to 27 points for the LPGA Hall of Fame, one of the strongest paths to any hall of fame.
Ko watched the documentary of gymnastics great Simone Biles, “Rising,” and was so inspired by one quote from Biles that she wrote in her yardage book: “I’m starting to write my destiny.”
This final chapter saw Ko build five shots, watch it get to one in the final hour and deliver a steady stream of pars until he made a 7-foot birdie putt at the end to finish at 10-under 278.
Germany’s Esther Henseleit finished with a birdie-birdie 66 to put Ko in charge. Henseleit was mixed with silver. China’s Xiyu Lin carded a final hole 69 to take the bronze.
“I kept telling myself, ‘I’m going to write my destiny.’ I wanted him to be the one to control my destiny,” said Ko. “For it to end this way, it’s a dream come true.”
Ko won a silver medal in Rio de Janeiro. He won bronze in Tokyo. The lost proved worth more than its weight in gold.
For Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, Morgane Metraux and many others, it was a day to forget. They were all in the lead. They all went back with mistakes that paved the way for Ko.
This is the latest accolade in an impressive career for Ko, who won his first LPGA title as a 15-year-old junior and rose to world No. 1 for the first time at 17. He started this year with a win over Florida, leaving him one point short of the Hall, and had a spell this summer where he doubted he would make the final.
Ko becomes the 35th player to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, and the second-youngest behind Australian champion Karrie Webb to reach the 27-point requirement — two points in each of her majors, one point in her other victory -18 on the LPGA, one point to win the LPGA Player of the Year (twice) and the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average (twice).
And one big point for Olympic gold.
Ko needed just two putts from short range to win, and when the putt fell, she put her hand over her mouth and soon began to cry.
The last round was harder than it needed to be. Ko was ahead of the chasing pack when suddenly, shockingly, it was done for everyone but him.
China’s Ruoning Yin, who had a one-shot lead, birdied two of three holes after making a chance. Hannah Green was trailing until her tee shot went left into the water on the 10th for a double bogey, spoiling her courageous comeback from a 77 in the opening round.
Miyu Yamashita and Zhang played tennis on the ninth green, jumping from one side of the green to the other, back and forth, until both made a double bogey.
And just like that, Ko was five out of the field and the end of the drama seemed to be a wild race for two more medals. At one point, 12 players were split into two shots equal to B-Flight.
If only it were that easy for Ko.
He was cruising, birdie-checking every hole, until he found the water on the 13th for a double bogey. That got him to three shots, still safe until Henseleit made Ko’s best play on the floor.
Henseleit watched from the red sofa in the clubhouse as Ko played the last few holes, never thinking of going to the practice ring in case of a playoff.
“There are players who you know will not mess up when they come from the last two holes, and you are one of them,” said Henseleit, who is the first European woman to win a golf medal at the Olympics. “I was happy sitting there enjoying my silver medal.”
Lin is only the second player from China to win a medal — Shanshan Feng won bronze in Rio — and narrowly avoided a playoff with a number of players in the mix.
The pint-sized Yamashita had a big game, two off the lead, until he bogeyed the par-3 16th for double bogey. He had a chance to force a playoff for bronze until he missed a 35-foot eagle putt on 18.
Yamashita finished one shot off the podium with a 73, along with Green (69), the Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan (68) and PGA Women’s winner Amy Yang (69).
Korda, the No. 1 player in women’s golf and a gold medalist at the Tokyo Games, was at the meet until the timeout. This time, he hit the water on the 15th for triple bogey. He closed with 75. For the week, Korda had a triple bogey on the 15th, a quadruple bogey on the 16th and a pair of three-putts bogey on the 17th.
“I played hard until the last few holes,” he said. “And, I guess that was the story of my week. Other than that, I played solid golf.”
Zhang closed with a 74 with two birdies in the final three holes. Metraux, who tied for the lead with Ko on the final day, didn’t make a birdie until the 15th hole and shot a 79.
In the end, the stage, the platform — and the temple — all belonged to Ko.
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